Clayton Childress Explains How Taste and Status Reinforce Each Other

On this week’s episode, Sonny talks to Clayton Childress, an Associate Professor in the Dept. of Sociology of University of Toronto who studies taste, decision, and meaning making in the creation, production, and reception of culture. Clayton is on to discuss a recent study he coauthored with Shyon Baumann, Craig M. Rawlings, and Jean-François Nault about the strange ways elite tastes have both grown more inclusive and more exclusive. What does it mean that those with more education say they enjoy every genre (e.g., horror) but only certain films within that genre (e.g., A24’s horror films like Hereditary or The Witch)? And what does that mean for studios trying to figure out what to make—and what to market?

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